Month: January 2021

Post truth era: a nation of angry, sometimes armed toddlers

What happens when you put together a brew of years of propaganda, misinformation from so-called media sources and a culture increasingly accepting of “truth is what you want to be true?”

And no, as a nation, we are NOT better than this. We ARE this.

Yes, this incident was a result of right wing media, a population receptive to it, a “president” who encouraged it and Republican leaders who enabled him.

The answer is NOT some left wing counter of this..the answer is to boldly encourage truth seeking and a bold pursuit of the truth, even though humans are prone to biases, being preconditioned, etc.

No, left wing wokism has not produced anything remotely this bad, but it is a type of “post truth” pursuit of power than won’t lead to anything good.

I shall continue to speak out against it.

But at this time, the right wing variety of the “pursuit of power regardless of the associated truth” is far more pervasive and far more dangerous.

And yes, Republicans, this one is on you. This time.

Workout today

BTW, shingles vaccine…part 2.

pull ups: rough session but the reps were of good quality; mix of singles and sets of 5; enough to get to 50 reps. rests: rotator cuff, hip hikes, lots of free squats.

Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150 (all with good pauses)

deadlifts: 10 x 134 neutral, deficit: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, high handle: 10 x 224

shoulder press: 10 x 96 (44 kg) 2 x 52 kg (114) HARD, 8 x 96, 7 x 96 barbell

10 x 40 dumbbell.

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

plank: 2:30. Total time: 1:40 (relaxed pace; pull ups alone took 35 minutes.

5 January 2021

Well, I am not sure that 2021 will be better than 2020; after all, last year we had 2.5 decent months …maybe we’ll get a few good months toward the end.

But the COVID increase in the UK is worrisome and may well happen here too.

I am following the Georgia elections (US Senate) and while it looks promising for now, it is way too early to say too much:

We’ll see how it plays out; probably won’t know tonight.

Workout: 5 miles on the treadmill (by my watch; a bit more than that by the treadmill odometer).

1:07:56 (13:35; one slacker mile at the end) and while this was far from a hard effort, I did put some effort into it. Somewhat sore back but no glute pain.

I am going to learn how to squat

And it will take some work; I did 5-6 sets of free squats today; maybe more.

Probably more. Also, hip hikes, rotator cuff

pull ups: 52 reps ..sets of 5, singles, one set of 10

bench press: 10 x 134, 2 x 184 (strict pause, about killed me), 3 x 174 (pause), 5 x 164, 5 x 164, 7 x 154

neutral trap bar dead: 3 sets of 10 x 134 (form)

shoulder press: barbell, 46 kg (101.2) sets of 7 and 6, 44 kg (96) set of 8, dumbbell: 10 x 48 lb

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

push ups: 40, 30, 10

headstand.

I wish I were more upright but this is me; not quite parallel but I can get this far down. But when I start using weight: I need to get this far down, every time, else I am using too much weight.

The above is what I want to avoid: the dreaded “stripper squat”.

I’ll need a lot of patience.

3 Jan: more decadence

Well, I did watch the Bears get whipped by the Packers..and slide into a playoff slot anyway.

I did a few other things; one of them was a short outdoor snow hike and an HOT indoor treadmill walk..

The good news is that piriformis pain is negligible. But my hips and hamstrings (that “posterior chain”) is sore. I think the Wednesday (deficits 10 x 214) and the Saturday were too much, ..should have taken Wednesday easier or gone a big lighter on Saturday.

Other topics

I think that our whole system: economic, social and political, was tailor made to fail during this pandemic.

One is the family structure: many see large, coherent families as a source of strength, and it can be.

But when it devolves into stuff like “Granny is lonely and wants to see ALL her kids..pandemic or no..” being able to stand up to family pressures is essential.

Government wise: being able to have some sort of national plan to distribute vaccines would be highly beneficial ..as would being able to say “ok, nationwide shutdown and we’ll compensate businesses and workers “..and of course, we don’t have that. We’ve failed.

And there is our economic system. Yes, I remain a capitalist. But this “do more with less..let’s run EVERYTHING like a business” has hurt the educational and medical fields.

Yes, customer service is dreadful but people don’t want to pay more to get better customer service.

But this “cut to the bones..” get “lean and mean” has left us badly understaffed at health care facilities thereby leading to unsustainable conditions for health care workers.

And teachers are suffering too; we already have a shortage and the current environment is more toxic than ever. You can go on and on “it is about the kids” all you want, but when you lack the resources and yes...a sufficient number of teachers and substitutes..

And, understandably, the remaining teachers won’t tolerate being viewed as “expendable.” Some are refusing to return to “face to face” and understandably so.

Parents can scream “fire them” all they want, but where are the replacements going to come from?

2 January

Well, the start was unimpressive, at least with respect to sports and working out.

I do have more to say; will do so later.

Today: treadmill workout after deadlifting.5k in 42;40 though, to be honest, the treadmill had me with close to 4 miles as I was grinding.

This came after a very lame deadlift workout:

10 x 134, 10 x 184, 1 x 224 (neutral)

1 x 274 high handle

4 misses at 319 high handle (got 314 last week)

5 x 279 high, 4 x 259 low, 5 x 234 deficit

Not the worst and I got a workout (after lunch) but..well, I have to remember where I was a year ago.

“dead lifts (need to get shoes…did without shoes): 6 x 135, 3 x 185, 1 x 225 (missed 2 x), miss 240, 6 x 185, 6 x 205 “

My progression

Note: not much glute pain…piriformis didn’t bother me. Longer on the treadmill tomorrow..dare I aim for 5-6 miles?

Jan 1: first workout

Well, the first workout of the year was, ok.

pull ups: not that good; several sets of 5, a few singles, enough to get to 50 reps.

bench: 10 x 134, 3 x 184 (perhaps too quick at the chest but no bounce), 1 x 184, 2 x 184, 3 x 174, 3 x 174 (strict pause), 5 x 164 (strict pause)

shoulder: 2 sets of 10 x 48 dumbbells, 9 x 94, 6 x 96 (set of 9: only one collar)

rows: 4 sets of 10 x 134 trap bar

push ups: 4 sets of 20 inside on dumbbell handles.

Kind of an angst to start the new year; uncertainty is not something I am used to.